AUSTIN - Today, The Texas House of Representatives passed two pieces of legislation crafted within the borders of House District 2. House Bill 2612 and Senate Bill 453 passed their respective final chambers this afternoon, moving both closer to Governor Perry's desk for signature.

House Bill 2612, by Representative Dan Flynn (R-Van), would allow local officials the right to prohibit use of specific county roads by heavy or overweight vehicles. Provided an alternative route is posted, any use of the prohibited road would result in the rights of the county to hold the offenders liable.

"The inability for our local officials to hold offenders liable for damage to their respective county roads has become a serious issue for each county within House District 2," stated Representative Flynn. "Commissioner Beth Wisenbaker, of Hopkins County, came to me with her county's concerns and I was happy to draft legislation to address these issues. The entire Hopkins County Commissioners Court came to testify on this bill and show their support and dedication to resolving this issue. House Bill 2612 is the result of their concerns being brought to my attention."

Another piece of legislation that was crafted within House District 2 was Senate Bill 453. Boles ISD Superintendent Graham Sweeney collaborated with Commerce ISD Superintendent Blake Cooper, and Texas A&M Commerce President Dan Jones on solutions to address the various international student visa's that are accepted by public schools and local ISD's. Currently, public schools accept students traveling in the United States on J-1 Visa, a visa associated with a nationally recognized foreign exchange program. An F-1 Visa is issued to students travelling abroad, but not associated with an international exchange program; a visa public schools cannot accept. It also requires the international student to reimburse the school they choose to attend the full unsubsidized per capita cost of their tuition and education for the period of their attendance. By granting public schools the authority to accept F-1 Visa's, they would now have the authority to charge tuition.

SB453 would not impact the immigration in Texas or increase costs to local ISD's. This bill would grant the Education Commissioner the authority to determine the amount of tuition per school district.

"Senate Bill 453 was a great piece of legislation by Superintendent Sweeney," said Representative Flynn. "SB453 gives local school districts greater opportunity to not only diversify their campus for a school year, but it grants them greater financial flexibility when assessing the feasibility of certain programs at the beginning or end of each school term."